Spector - Eurosonic Nooderslag 2012 review

'A wily recall of the halcyon days of 2005'

“I wish more of you would've bought cameras, but we'll have to make do,” quips Spector frontman Fred MacPherson. The first four rows are watching this through a lens. At least
he’s not having a horrid hair day. Rather it’s a slicked side-parting kind of evening: Saville Row smartness and
Gandhi googles. It suits the venue’s faux-Boudoir decor.

It can seem as if Spector are trying too hard: the purposely big choruses, the over-dramatised
leaning of the mic and the eighties drum fills. But this is pop professionism at it’s best. MacPherson’s warm
witticisms and crowd interaction is endearing and there is plenty of promise in the snatching riffs of guitarist Christopher
Burman, even if his sprouting barnet and mismatched suit makes him look like a free-scoring 70s forward heading to court.

Set ender ‘Never Fade Away’ purports The Killers with double hand-clapped drums and large synth work, while
‘Chevy Thunder’ has the punch of middle of the road America, something Springsteen would crash out.

It is, as it was set out to be, a wily recall of the halcyon days of 2005 where indie discos and drainpipe jeans were en
vogue. If fanzines like punk’s Sniffin’ Glue or Sideburns still inkily stained the hands of youth, that infamous
adage of “this is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band" could work similarly well for bands like
Spector. It’s paint by numbers indie.

That’s not to dismiss it as particularly throwaway. ‘Lay
Low’ recalls ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles and has MacPherson posing on his knees, while Maximo Park get a
look in on ‘Grey Shirt and Tie’. There’s plenty of promise here with enough solid songwriting and sharp
live confidence to make them the Best Guitar Band of 2012. Now you can see why there are so many cameras here tonight.

Were you at the gig? What do you think of Spector? We want to know. Leave your comments in the box below or head to
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